Powerlifting is dead and I'm okay with that

Powerlifting is a dying sport. It had it's chance to be mainstream a long time ago and they blew it. Every powerlifter has an opinion on why the sport isn't more popular and here's mine: The fact that powerlifters are argumentative bitches, and the fact that it seems to be a sport for weirdos such as myself.

 The case for my claim of powerlifter being arguments is the constant agruments about what is and isn't raw. Most people will say that raw is just a belt, maybe knee sleeves, and nothing else. But wait, no one has defined that as raw until after powerlifting stopped mattering as a sport.

Other people such as me and the good people of the UPA and other like minded federations will say that raw is belt and knee wraps. This is how it was in the beginning and only for a brief period in the 70s was this considered gear back in the day. To think otherwise of this noble friendship of the belt, the wraps, and the squatter is to spit in the face of an entire era.

But the thing that pisses me off about this argument is the innate insistence on being retarded. How far back do these raw purists want to take this? Do they want to take away belts? They add about the same amount of weight as wraps. Why not take away shoes? Hell, even bars aren't really raw. How do you know it's really you lifting it? The bar is the one holding it. How far back do you really want to take it?

Ed Cone, shown here having the time of his life

Wraps make lifting more fun because you're lifting more weight. They help keep older lifters in the game and by extension help keep the sport alive. The insistence on redefining raw is what killed powerlifting in the first place. Those bastards that wanted wraps out of the game are murderers and I'm going to shout at them until my throat is bloody and raw.

Another point of confusion is the use of gear. In the years of yonder, everyone used gear. Nearly every powerlifter that mattered used gear, which, back then was shitty. Adding about as much weight as a pair of wraps would. Not much at all.

Some people seem to forget about this, or pave over the fact that Ed Cone, Kirk "The Jerk" Karloski, and even Doug Furnace and Connie Goldman used gear.

The point here is that all these guys set the best records and won the best pageants using gear that is no longer considered raw for reasons that are stupid. I can understand calling straight up geared lifting with squat suits and such not raw, but to say wraps aren't raw is absolutely retarded.

And what pisses me off more is when people vilify geared lifting in general. Yes, I get it they don't compete the way you do, they're pussies who don't lift weight. Maybe when you squat 405 I'll give a shit. No wait, I still won't.

I've actually talked with geared lifters and of all the souls I've come across in my journeys, their souls are the most... human...

With the advent of the hatred of geared lifting and the constant redefining of raw, powerlifting is dying and since everyone is too much of an argumentative bitch to do anything against this, it will not be saved.

RIP Powerlifting.